Romania may pay up to EUR 550 mln compensations for convicts

The justice minister’s initiative to compensate inmates who were held in improper detention conditions in local prisons between 2012 and 2017 will require between EUR 370 million and EUR 550 million from the state budget, according to the union federation representing the prison workers – FSANP. The union’s representatives estimate that some 92,000 convicts passed through local prisons between 2012 and 2017 and paying them EUR 5 for each day they spent in improper condition would cost EUR 370 million, while a compensation of EUR 8 per day would increase the needed amount to EUR 550 million, local Mediafax reported. The union believes that besides being inappropriate and immoral, this initiative would also impact the state budget. The maximum compensation that a convict could get for this period, if he was in jail between 2012 and 2017, would amount to EUR 9,125-EUR 14,600. According to the union, some of those who may receive compensations are millionaires or politicians convicted for corruption, such as former Piatra Neamt mayor Gheorghe Stefan, businessman Nicolae Dumitru and Mircea Basescu, former president Traian Basescu’s brother. The union representatives are against the compensations and say that the European Court of Human Rights hasn’t asked Romania to pay the criminals but to improve detention conditions. Justice minister Tudorel Toader recently announced that inmates who were released before October 2017 may get financial compensations if they were held in improper conditions. After October 2017, the inmates held in improper conditions received a 6-day cut of their sentence for each 30 days spent in improper conditions. editor@romania-insider.com